


Guessing Game

by navree



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: F/M, Gen, i do and i love it, y'all remember that deleted scene where coop's flirting with diane?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 10:23:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11987868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navree/pseuds/navree
Summary: He has that gratefully surprised look on his face that he gets whenever she smiles, like it's Christmas morning and he's just received a long desired present.Dale and Diane have had an interesting game going on for quite a while. This is just the latest installment.





	Guessing Game

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first thing i've written from diane's perspective, and it's just a more fleshed out version of this scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQA0U6zWyY) which was deleted from twin peaks: fire walk with me  
> as always, comments (either positive or constructive) are always welcome and much appreciated!

She's been at work for approximately half an hour when Dale Cooper appears like a ghost at the entrance of her office. He doesn't walk further in, or knock, or otherwise make his presence known, even though she can see him from the corner of her eye. Instead he just watches her take her notes, leaning against the doorjamb with his arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. Eventually, Diane decides to put him out of his misery, twisting the cap back on her pen and standing up from her desk to walk over to grab some files from her cabinet, leaning against it herself when she closes the drawer. 

"Good morning." Dale tips an imaginary hat to her, a small upward tilt playing on his lips. "Get any sleep?"

"Not a wink Diane," he answers jovially, pushing himself off and clapping his hands together. "And yet, I find myself feeling more refreshed than if I'd spent an entire twenty four hours resting. It's fascinating." 

"It sounds like it." She says it with a smile of her own, a laugh stifled in her throat. He has that gratefully surprised look on his face that he gets whenever she smiles, like it's Christmas morning and he's just received a long desired present. It makes her feel warm, and she's certain that it shows. Dale's eyes begin to roam across her office, with his same joyful look now compounded with that ever persistent curiosity. "Anything I can help you with Dale?"

"Something's different," he explains, although the twinkle in his eye ruins any pretense that he's surprised by this. "You changed something." 

"Oh?" Her voice is innocent, hands clasped behind her back as she leans against her desk, head tilted in with a faux quizzical charade. Dale's smile widens then, a mischievous smile that she returns, a signal that they can begin their repartee that they've both grown so fond of. Without missing a beat he begins to do squats in the doorway, no doubt in an attempt to throw her off, make her poker face slip. She shakes her head, eyebrows raised in mock curiosity. 

"Diane..." He says it the way he always says her name, fondness and a slight hint of reverence as if he was a contemporary of the Virgin Mary, addressing a prayer to her in the church when he'd already run into her on the street. Diane's found she likes the way her name sounds on his tongue, likes that every single interaction between them always has to involve no less than two inclusions of her name. "You haven't changed your hair." No, she hasn't, and she gives him and this time to confirm. "And I've seen that beautiful dress before." He has, and it's not one of her nicer ones, a plain red, but Dale always seems to act like she's wearing something stolen directly of the Stella McCartney's rack. 

Dale changes from his squats to some form of pushup against the opposite wall, no evidence of a strain in his grin. "I _must_ say you look sensational today." This time he makes her laugh; he's pulling out all the stops for their little exchange and it still makes her cheeks tinge ever so slightly. 

"Are you just using compliments to buy time until you give up?" Diane can play coy just as well as he can, an exaggerated honey sweetness in her question that makes Dale's spine spasm with choked down laughter. 

"No," he says, a slight strain on his voice as he continues his exercise. "I am not trying to buy time." He stops, leans against the doorjamb again, hand in pocket, quick gaze jumping from her papers to her flowerpot. "It's Thursday-"

"Well spotted." 

"And you have changed something in this room," he continues, ignoring her friendly jab. "And this time you've done _very_ well. Very well." She dips her head in silent thanks, a hand placed over her heart. "But I am going to tell you exactly what it is...In a moment..."

"You're stalling." She manages to interject her two words with a little sing song as he pauses, smile slipping as he continues to surveil the office, trying to pinpoint what had shifted between today and yesterday. 

"You have changed..." He drags the last word out, eyes narrowing before they widen. He snaps his fingers in triumph, grin back now in full and wonderfully smug force, a small child who's just discovered how the dinosaurs became extinct. "I've got it!" He fixes his eyes on the wall behind her, and Diane turns, feeling a bloom of pride in her chest. "Diane you've moved that clock twelve inches to the left." The words leave Dale's mouth in a rush, as if worried that the answer will somehow change if he takes too long getting it out into the open air. 

"You got it." He sighs in admiration of himself, pleased with how the morning turned out no doubt. 

"Ah yes, another triumph for the dashing Agent Cooper." This time she can't stop herself from laughing, a real peal of laughter this time, and Dale's eyes sparkle at the sound of his, the way her's no doubt do when he lets himself loose like that. Unfortunately, there is a permanent bet in play with these games, and Diane has lost, something the _dashing Agent Cooper_ knows very well. "And now Diane you..." He thinks for a moment, and she narrows her eyes in faked annoyance. "Must clean the coffee cups, get fresh ground coffee from Sally, and make a damn great pot of coffee." 

"If it were anyone else asking I'd say no," she informs him, and whatever stern façade he's been attempting melts back away into his signature playfulness almost in spite of himself. His sole response is to press a kiss to his lips and send it her way. It's another age old tradition, and she catches it, tucking it into her purse for what she calls safekeeping. The first time she'd told Dale that he'd gotten that Christmas morning look on his face again. 

Diane loves when he gets that look on his face. It's her favorite. 


End file.
